-Allows UN Planes to use runways for food delivery
DM Monitoring
KARACHI: In order to facilitate the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), the Civil Aviation Authority Sunday decided to allow UN planes to use Pakistani runways to take off for Afghanistan.
In order to dispatch food and essential items to Kabul, the tarmac of Pakistani airports will be used, said the civil aviation office. Against this facility, the CAA will charge the fee as per its schedule. Additionally, the WFP will have to furnish detail of the stuff its intending to fly to Kabul via the Islamabad and Peshawar airports.
The notification said a fixed-wing aircraft two-manned aircraft will be used for aid staple and will take off from Islamabad airport en route to Kabul. Separately, an M18 helicopter will carry six men and food staple for the Kabul landing.
UN’s WFO reached out to Pakistani CAA for aid in this regard, the aviation authority said in a notification.
Separately, CAA allowed a UN delegation from Bangkok to land at Islamabad airport, easing travel restrictions on inbound passengers from countries in the third (C) category. The notification in this regard has been issued by the deputy director of air transport of the CAA.
After the ease in travel restriction, a five-member UN delegation reached Islamabad from Bangkok yesterday (Sunday).
Before the arrival of UN delegation, CAA said “They will undergo a mandatory PCR test on their arrival, besides also being quarantined for seven to 10 days,”.
Days earlier, Executive Director of WFP David Beasley acknowledged Pakistan’s support for repairing damaged planes returning from Kabul and establishing a “humanitarian air bridge” to the war-torn country.
The WFP Chief voiced his appreciation in a video from Islamabad airport which he posted on his official Twitter account on Thursday .
“Our damaged planes from Kabul have been repaired, and the WFP is now ready to establish a humanitarian air bridge between Islamabad-Kabul and other destinations in Afghanistan,” Beasley wrote.
“This will allow us to scale up to meet the needs of the Afghan people,” he said.
In the video, Beasley said the Pakistan government “really helped” the WFP with overhauling and repairing the planes damaged in Kabul so that they could be put back in service.
Pointing to a passenger plane, he said: “We are about to do a test flight from Islamabad to Kabul that will be an air bridge, which hopefully goes well.”
He said the WFP was helping to evacuate passengers, UN personnel, and other humanitarian workers from Afghanistan.
“With all the devastation inside Afghanistan, we want to do what we can to bring life back to normal and give hope to people in desperation right now,” he said.
